Medical Commission

The Medical Commission actively fights against doping and supports the protection of the athletes’ health.

History and mission

The Medical Commission was created in 1967 in order to deal with the increasing problem of doping in the sports world. The initial goal of putting in place an anti-doping structure was rapidly widened to encompass the following three fundamental principles:

Protection of the health of athletes.

Respect for both medical and sports ethics.

Equality for all competing athletes.

Fight against doping

For more than 40 years, the IOC Medical Commission has worked in the anti-doping field, studying alternative methods to help athletes. These alternatives consist of sport medicine, biomechanics, physiology applied to sports, nutrition and all the other sciences linked to sports.

Since the creation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the scope of the IOC Medical Commission has expanded.

Expanded scope

In addition to the ongoing fight against doping, which remains one of its main tasks both as representative of the IOC in WADA committees and during the Olympic Games, the IOC Medical Commission's mission is the body that addresses all of the main medical issues which may occur in sport. The IOC Medical Commission facilitates consensus meetings on all of the above-mentioned issues whilst giving priority to the protection of the health of anyone practising sport at any level. The Commission also runs two online, postgraduate Diploma programmes in the fields of Sports Medicine (www.iocsportsmedicine.com) and Sports Nutrition (www.iocsportsnutrition.com), aimed at further enhancing education and knowledge in these fields.

The Olympic Movement Medical Code

Discover the new version of the Olympic Movement Medical Code which applies to Olympic Games, beginning with the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games. The document defines basic rules regarding best medical practices in the domain of sport and the safeguarding of the rights and health of the athletes.